Agenda Setting on the Burger Court Paper 1: State and Federal Circuit Differences

Agenda setting of the United States Supreme Court is a matter of continuing interest to judicial scholars. Previous studies have examined several aspects of the agenda setting process. These studies have usually focused on specific issues, particular terms, or sampling for their data collection. A more comprehensive examination of the cases filed before the Supreme Court will provide a clearer picture of how the justices set their agenda. To that end, this study will examine all cases on the Burger Court’s appellate docket. As a first cut with this data, this study will examine four empirical questions related to cases filed before the Supreme Court: 1) is there a difference in acceptance rates between state and federal cases, 2) is there a difference in acceptance rates between federal circuits, 3) is there a difference in acceptance rates for state cases in the federal circuits, and 4) is there a difference in acceptance rates between state and federal cases from the same federal circuits?